Cook and learn: Chef Antwon Brinson forges community through food

If the goal of Common House, the city’s private social club, is to help convene like-minded creatives, then it’s no wonder Antwon Brinson had been in its kitchen since the opening last spring. “Food for me has always been something that brought people together,” says the club’s executive chef. Originally from Niagara Falls, New York, […]

Get your goat: Why the gamy meat could be disappearing from local menus

Pork is passé. Beef used to be for dinner. And lamb is no longer exotic. Is goat the next frontier? “It’s a wonderful product—delicious, healthy and a cultural centerpiece,” says Clay Trainum, co-owner of Autumn Olive Farms. Indeed, Charlottesville foodies can find (or could find) goat in some delightful preparations around town—in the meatballs at […]

Three cooks serving the taste of home

Can’t find the food that feeds your soul? These women took the tongs into their own hands. Stephanie Murray of Ula Tortilla People often ask what is the meaning of “Ula,” and for Stephanie Murray and her husband, James Price, it’s part of what inspired the family’s business to begin with: their children, Uriah, Lovissa […]

An intimate space: Using a garden to soften a vast view

The house enjoys an extraordinary location, overlooking miles of Albemarle countryside from a high mountainside perch. Throughout the day the sun makes its crossing from east to west across a wide expanse of sky, while fields and woods unroll below for what seems like forever. When the present owners came here in 1996, they loved […]

Retooling for spring: A good gardener is only as useful as her instruments

My circle of acquaintances happily includes many who make their lives in horticulture. Their answers to my idle query, “What is your favorite tool?”  ranged from humorous—a professional gardener, 5-gallon bucket and a radio—to the obscure, among them the intriguing swan hoe, an ingenious asparagus knife with scuffle attachment and a number of beloved Japanese […]